The Dead

Lost is famous for the number of dead characters it has produced. Starting with Boone, we learned that no one is safe, with the possible exception of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Sometimes the dead don't seem to stay dead, but act as ghostly messengers for Jacob or the Man in Black. Others are seen in flash backs. Sometimes the dead die and are never seen again.

We know that some people died prematurely: the producers had lots of plans for Mr. Eko, but the actor, stricken with grief over family losses, asked to be let out of his contract. Danielle also died earlier than planned, again, because the actress asked to go - she was tired of Hawaii!

Below, I will discuss the dead, first of Oceanic 815 survivors and their families, then of some important persons we've met along the way. I will not discuss Locke, Juliet (fate unknown), Claire (fate also unknown), Daniel, or Charlotte, since I've already written about them. I'll also not talk about redshirts, since there are too many to adequately cover.

Now, as far as I am concerned, I think that all the characters, especially the 815 survivors, should return to the show - one way or the other. We know that Jughead did something, though we don't know what. I doubt that everyone will find themselves on the plane again, but if the past changed, not all the survivors would have died, right? Or something? But I know that this may not fit reality, as the characters are brought to life by actors who may or may not be willing to come back. Some actors, such as Emilie de Ravin, have returned, as have others that, since I know and the frikkin' show starts tomorrow, I will note below. Others, I've heard rumors of but don't know.

And oh, by the way, my predictions are almost always wrong.

So, here we go:

Christian Shephard

Could Christian's death be what started it all? After his son refused to protect him after a botched surgery in which a pregnant patient died, Christian flew to Australia and essentially drank himself to death. Jack was sent to Australia to collect the body, but apparently failed to get the appropriate paperwork. Luckily for Jack (and us), Jack was able to persuade the airline to board Christian's casket on Oceanic 815.

Once on the Island, Christian didn't seem to remain dead long. Instead, he was everywhere: sending Vincent to wake Jack up after the crash, popping up here and there so Jack would chase him, and even showing up off the Island to haunt Jack. Christian also talked several times with Locke, claiming he was talking on Jacob's behalf. Before Michael exploded with the freighter, Christian appeared, telling Michael he could go now.

For a long time, I just assumed that Christian was a benign presence on the Island, who worked with Jacob for the good of the Island. Ryan McGee of Zap2It, however, has had a different perspective on Christian, claiming that there is a good one and a bad one - you can tell the difference because the good one wears his funeral suit and the bad one wears khakis and a shirt.

I'm not convinced. Brown-shirted Christian seemed genuinely surprised when Locke revealed he'd been told he would have to die to bring the Oceanic Six back to the Island. However, that's not a lot to set my cap on. Hopefully, this season will show us the answer.

Likelihood of Returning: Are you kidding? If John Terry refused to come back, Lost fans the world over would make his life miserable. He's far too important a part of the mythology to leave out.

Seth Norris

In case you've forgotten, Seth Norris is the unlucky pilot who flew Oceanic 815 for Frank Lapidus and lived - briefly - to regret it. He was the first casualty of the smoke monster. Interestingly, Jack was supposed to be the first victim, but the producers were persuaded by the network to keep Jack around as the hero.

Likelihood of Returning: Greg Grunberg is a friend of JJ Abrams, and has appeared on most if not all his shows. However, Grunberg has a major role in Heroes on NBC. I think Grunberg's one time spot was just that.

Edward Mars

Edward Mars was the Javert to Kate's Jean Valjean (if you don't know Les Miserables, I just can't help you). He seemingly devoted his life to hunting her down and bringing her to justice. How many marshals will fly to Australia to capture a relatively harmless murderess? Let's face it, Kate was a member of Al Queda.

However, his decision to fly to Australia was a fatal one, for Kate had been touched by Jacob but Mars seemingly wasn't. He was mortally wounded, and Jack's attempts at healing him failed. Sawyer tried to shoot him to death, but he missed, so Jack smothered him.

Likelihood of Return: Let's face it, we've seen Mars a lot, most often in Kate's flashbacks. I'd be surprised if we didn't see Fredric Lehne again this season.

Nathan

Nathan was one of the tail section survivors who challenged Ana Lucia's leadership. Ana Lucia eventually suspected him of being an Other, and dug a hole to imprison him in. Goodwin killed Nathan out of fear that his protests of innocence might ring true with Ana Lucia and lead her eyes to him.

Likelihood of Return: Nathan died a nearly total unknown character - we don't even have a last name for him. I don't know if we'll see Nathan, but I'm sure Josh Randall would be willing.

Goodwin Stanhope

Juliet's first Island lover appeared to be romancing Ana Lucia, who eventually figured out that Goodwin was an Other. She killed him.

Likelihood of Return: We've seen Stanhope after his death in Juliet's flashbacks. Surely we'll get to see him again?

Ethan Rom

Ethan at first seemed to be just a regular survivor, willing to pitch in and help with anything. But he quickly turned sinister when we learned with Hurley that Ethan's name was not on the manifest. By then, it was too late. Claire was kidnapped and Charlie was hanged (yet survived). Claire returned to the survivors, but Ethan demanded her back. At an arranged meeting, Ethan was shot to death by an avenging Charlie.

We have seen Ethan every season since. In various flashbacks, we've seen that he was a surgeon who had been born on the Island (perhaps the last healthy baby born then?) in the Dharma Initiative, and somehow recruited to join the Others.

Likelihood of Return: There's no way we won't be seeing Tom Cruise's cousin this season. William Mapother's Ethan is too important to not return.

Boone Carlyle

The death of Boone was perhaps the first realization that none of our characters are safe. TV convention says that if an actor is in the main credits, the character can't die. But not so on Lost.

Boone's death was also remarkable because of how senseless it was. Locke was temporarily paralyzed, and was unable to climb the tree the Beechcraft airplane was in. Boone, young and agile, scrambled up, but was unable to escape when his weight caused the plane to crash. His wounds were mortal, despite Jack's best efforts.

We saw Boone a couple of times afterward, mostly in flashbacks, but also in a sweat lodge dream of Locke's.

Likelihood of Return: Ian Somerholder has been pretty good natured about returning to the show. However, he is now starring in a television show about vampires, The Vampire Diaries, on the CW. However, Entertainment Weekly has informed me that he will somehow be back on the show. How? Well, that might be answered tomorrow night. Or not.

Leslie Arzt

Arzt was the annoying science teacher with a chip on his shoulder, who ably demonstrated how dangerous leaky dynamite is when it blew him into pieces.

Likelihood of Return: I see no reason for Daniel Roebuck to turn down the opportunity if asked. However, the role always seemed more of a comic relief than a serious part of the mythology, so if he does come back, I think he'll be very much relegated to the background.

Shannon Rutherford

Shannon's death always felt premature to me. She had just started finding redemption and a purpose in life (and a sexy relationship with Sayid!) when she was shot by Ana Lucia who assumed Shannon was an Other. Apparently, the producers felt her storyline had reached an end point.

Likelihood of Return: Come on, if Boone's back, surely his stepsister has to come back too! Maggie Grace has done pretty well for herself since she left the show, but not that well.

Ana Lucia Cortez

Ana Lucia was a divisive character, who was hated by many of us, including me. However, as she joined our group and interacted more with the characters, including Sawyer and Sayid, I began to like her better, and was interested in seeing what her story would be. Color me (and everyone else) surprised when Michael first apologized and then shot her to death.

Likelihood of Return: Had Michelle Rodriguez not reprised her role in last season's The Lie, I might have thought we'd seen the end of her. However, if the producers find a role for her, she's likely to come back. Considering her relationship with so many of the survivors and with Christian, I think it would be good to see her.

Libby Smith

Libby's death was equally as surprising as Ana Lucia. All we know about Libby is that she was institutionalized with Hurley at one point, was a widow, and gave Desmond her boat. She was developing a romantic relationship with Hurley when she entered the Hatch to get blankets for a picnic. Talk about bad timing. She tried to tell Jack about it, but died before she could be understood. It was hard to watch Hurley's heart break.

Likelihood of Return: Cynthia Watros returned to Lost once to haunt Michael (and didn't he deserve it!). However, she had been devastated when she was fired. The producers knew that Ana Lucia would die, but felt that her character had been so polarizing that the audience might not feel the enormity of what Michael did. The death of Libby did just that. However, I have since heard that we'll be seeing the actress this season, so ... welcome back Libby!

Mr. Eko

Mr. Eko was the most charismatic of the Taillies, and one of the most missed of all the characters. He was eventually killed by the Smoke Monster for refusing to apologize for his actions in the past. Why wasn't he sorry? Because he felt that he had done the best he could with what he had.

Likelihood of Return: Of all the persons who have requested to leave the show, it sounds like Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje's request was the most disruptive. The producers had planned for the spiritual Mr. Eko to receive visions of the future that nothing could prevent. But the actor was greiving the death of his parents, and wanted to return to London. I personally would love to see Mr. Eko again, and I've heard that the actor would like to return. I have not heard whether the producers have taken him up on the offer or not.

Nikki and Paolo

I have no idea why these two characters were so hated by the fans. Yes, you could argue that they were rather clumsily added to the cast and seemed to play no real purpose. But I strongly believe that you have to give the producers time - it will probably all turn out alright. But the producers were responsive to the outcry, and wrote a fabulous story about how they ended up on the Island and eventually were buried alive because of their own machinations. Bye-bye!

Likelihood of Return: I'd say nil. Apparently, the producers still obsess over the mistake of adding this pair to the main credits. If they come back, then they'll only be background.

Anthony Cooper

I don't care what issues you might have with your father, but Locke and Sawyer (who can claim Cooper as his "spiritual" father) have them beat. Anthony Cooper conned his own son out of a kidney. Does it get more despicable than that? Somehow, the Others managed to get Cooper onto the Island, and ordered Locke to kill him. But Locke couldn't. But a file of information from Richard Alpert later, Locke found a way to introduce Sawyer to Cooper. Sawyer then killed that demon from his past.

Likelihood of Return: I'm going to age myself here. I first noticed Kevin Tighe since he starred in Emergency! in the early 1970s. If you had told me that the man who played Roy DeSoto could play one of the evilest men on a show full of evil, I would have laughed. Cooper is extremely important in the background of two of our main characters, so I'm truly hoping we get to see him in the next season.

Tom

Ah, Mr. Friendly, Ben's right-hand man, who seemed to do whatever Ben told him without question. More or less. However, it was following Ben's order to take Walt that led to his death - it was one thing that Sawyer couldn't forgive.

Likelihood of Return: If we see any Others, I'm sure we'll see MC Gainey's Tom.

Charlie Pace

One of the reasons I was interested in the show was because of the Hobbit. I must confess. But how nerve-wracking to watch Desmond experience vision after vision of how Charlie would die. The producers decided that they would cheat the audience if Charlie did not eventually die, so die he did. And in a far nobler way than Charlie had ever lived.

Likelihood of Return: Dominic Monaghan has a new role in FlashForward as a genius who may have caused a world-wide blackout. He is one of the more dynamic actors on the show. FlashForward is aired on ABC, the same channel as Lost, and has been touting itself as the next Lost (it's not). The show is very proud of its actor connections to Lost, and no doubt want the actors to return. I'm certain we'll see Charlie Pace this season.

Mikhail Bukanin

This one-eyed evil-doer died several times, first when Locke pushed him into the sonic fence, and then when he blew himself up outside the Looking Glass, taking Charlie Pace with him. He was not my favorite villain, but he was effective.

Likelihood of Return: I actually have no opinion.

Naomi Dorritt

Widmore's go-to girl didn't survive her encounter with the Island and Locke. Did Walt really tell Locke he had to kill her? Or was that just Locke's interpretation?

Likelihood of Return: We've seen Naomi on occasion in flashbacks. She was an interesting character, and I'd personally like to see her back, but I don't know if she'll be back.

Karl Martin

This character earns the award for most boring Other ever. What Alex saw in him is beyond me. He was killed by Keamy's men as he sought the Temple.

Likelihood of Return: Unless the producers focus on the Others, which they might since Nestor Carbonell is coming on full time, there is no need to see this guy.

Danielle Rousseau

Danielle's death was unexpected. She survived alone on the Island all that time just to be shot to death by Keamy's men? What? At least we got to see some of her back story last season, but when you think about it, we really didn't learn anything new about her.

Likelihood of Return: Danielle is one of those characters who's early demise was not planned by the producers. Mira Furlan tired of living on Hawaii, and requested to be written out. I think the producers wrapped up Danielle's story this past season. I don't see her coming back.

Alex Rousseau

The cold-blooded murder of Alex took Ben by surprise, who apparently believed that the "rules", whatever they might be, would protect her. He took a gamble, and he and Alex both lost.

Likelihood of Return: Unlike Danielle, I suspect we might see Alex again, if only as a manifestation of the Smoke Monster. Tania Raymonde has a recurring role on CBS' Cold Case, but I believe they could let her come back for a spot or two.

Michael Dawson

Oh, Michael. What cost to your soul to rescue your son from the Others. Two murders and an estrangement from Walt later, he found that he was unable to commit suicide - the Island wasn't done with him yet. So Michael worked for Ben Linus, returning to the Island on a freighter and eventually doing his best to keep the explosives from going off after Keamy's death. His actions doubtless saved a number of lives, including Jin's.

Likelihood of Return: If you had asked me two or three months ago, I'd have said "Nil." After Michael's untimely death, Harold Perrineau expressed his disappointment that the producers made Walt into the stereotypical black son without a father. I'm guessing Perrineau wasn't ready to be fired. But the producers didn't hold the interview against the actor, so expect to see Michael this season. I'm guessing that Walt's taller than he is now.

Helen Norwood

Helen died of a brain aneurysm, breaking Locke's heart.

Likelihood of Return: I think small. There's no real reason to have her return, especially if Locke never returns to life.

Matthew Abaddon

Abaddon is one of the most mysterious and sinister of secondary characters we've seen. The man who helps people get where they need to be was killed by Ben, probably as Ben was trying to kill John Locke. That death was unexpected, and too early - there's so much I want to learn about him!

Likelihood of Return: Lance Reddick is now working on Fringe, but that shouldn't prevent a return, right? I'm not sure how or why, but wouldn't it be great to get a few answers about him?

Caesar

Caesar was a trick. We thought he was the man to watch on the Island, but instead he became the victim of Ben's last successful manipulation. Bye bye Caesar!

Likelihood of Return: Nil. I don't think that we'll see him again. Of course, if time is restarted, even partially...

Jacob

Mortally stabbed by Ben and pushed in to the fire by notLocke, Jacob is, I'm sure, dead. We have no idea who he is, what he is, or even whether he was good or not. I suspect some of those answers will be answered this season.

Likelihood of Return: He won't be brought back to life, I think, but we should learn a lot more about Jacob before the season is over.

Horace Goodspeed

Horace, of course, was killed in the Purge. He also acted as a ghostly guide to Locke once.

Likelihood of Return: I wish it could happen, even if as a ghost, but I don't see it.

Roger Linus

This guy was not killed in the Purge but by his own son. Although we all felt a little sympathy for him this past season as he coped with his son's injury and his own inadequacy as a parent, he was still an abusive drunk.

Likelihood of Return: Unlikely unless as a ghost haunting Ben as he copes with his failures.

Pierre Chang

Chang likely died in the Purge.

Likelihood of Return: I'm sure we'll see Chang, even if under a pseudonym. I hope that we'll get to see some Chang and Miles time.

Stuart Radzinsky

Radzinsky was one of the most unlikable Dharma Initiative. He apparently killed himself while staffing the Swan station. It is unknown how he survived the Purge.

Likelihood of Return: I hope not!

The Rest - The Alive Version

I think that I've finished with all the main characters from Season Five, and a happy moment that is, as well, what with the Season Six Premiere around the corner. But I want to post on the rest of our characters, the alive ones, or presumably alive ones, who didn't warrant a "main character" credit this past season.

I try not to post anything I might learn on the internet about what will happen in future episodes - spoilers - and can confirm that I actually have little to no information that can count as spoilers. However, I do have some casting news in my head. I will try to keep some of that out of my blog, but I know that three characters will be in the credits (okay, the actors), and I consider that fair game.

Richard Alpert

Yes, Nestor Carbonell will be in the main credits this season, and that can only be a good thing. Richard is an enigma, even if a now familiar one (Richard has been in more episodes than Desmond), as an ageless man who acts as an adviser or guide to the leader of the Others. He says he doesn't answer to the leader but does answer to someone - Jacob, perhaps? We also know that he communicated with Ben on Jacob's behalf, much to Ben's distress. But with Richard, we have far more questions than answers. How did Richard end up on the Island? A number of people speculate he was on The Black Rock that we saw Jacob looking at in The Incident. Why does he never age? How come he saw nothing special in John Locke? How does he manage to get to the States so often? What is his role with the Others? How does he select the leaders?

The questions are seemingly endless.

Claire Littleton

Yes, Emilie de Ravin is back after a year's absence from Lost. The last we saw, Aaron's mother and Jack's half-sister was hanging out with her ghostly father in Jacob's cabin, making oblique statements. Well, we also saw her at Aaron's California bedside, warning Kate to never let Aaron return to the Island. Was Claire killed in the explosion that destroyed her Dharma Initiative house? Was she allowed to carry Aaron to safety? Once he was safe, did her father then collect her so she could be a ghostly adviser too? Or just a ghostly companion?

I figure Richard's role this season is fairly obvious, but I'm not sure what Claire's will be. Will Juliet's explosion of Jughead restart everything? Will we see a live Claire or a ghostly Claire? Will we finally see Desmond's vision of Claire boarding a helicopter to leave the Island come true?

Frank Lapidus

Frank has been a favorite since he first appeared in Season Four's Confirmed Dead. A drunk, he was the original pilot for Oceanic 815, but for reasons unknown, Seth Norris flew instead. He was recruited by Widmore to act as a helicopter pilot for his mission to the Island. After his rescue from the Island, Frank was employed by Ajira Airlines, and had the unlucky duty of being assigned Ajira Flight 316. When Jack asked to meet him, and Frank saw so many of the Oceanic Six on board, he noted, "We're not going to Guam, are we?"

I'm convinced that Frank's mastery as a pilot prevented Ajira 316's from causing more deaths. After the plane landed, he was a little bit all over the place, accompanying Sun to the Island, staying with her in Ben's house, then returning to the Hydra Island to try to rally the remaining Ajira survivors. Upon his return, he was confronted by an armed Ilana, who demanded to know what lay in the shadow of the statute. Frank had no answer, of course, and she knocked him unconscious.

Ilana forced her team to carry the unconscious Frank with them, and Frank overheard them talking about him, with Ilana saying Frank might be a candidate. A candidate for what? Hopefully that will be answered this season.

Ilana

I don't know if Zuleikha Robinson will be in the main credits. The remaining characters, to the best of my knowledge, are not. We don't know a lot about Ilana - we don't even know her surname. We don't know her nationality - Russian, maybe? We don't know how she knows Jacob. We don't know who she works for. Who hired her to capture Sayid? We do know she speaks and understands Latin, and believes that she is working for the good guys. I'm certain that we'll see some answers this season.

Bram

At first, I thought Bram was basically a "red shirt", a nameless Ajira survivor. We saw him listening to Frank and Caesar argue about what to do next, and working with Ilana to open a crate. It wasn't until we saw him with Ilana in her confrontation with Frank that I realized he was more than just a "red shirt." As early as 2004, he was working for "the good guys", grabbing Miles from the street in an effort to talk Miles out of taking Widmore's job. On the Island, he's clearly following Ilana's orders.

Pierre Chang

Oddly enough, Francois Chau has yet to be credited on Lost for his role as the man of many aliases. Until this season, we only saw Chang in various Dharma videos, each time with a different name, talking about some aspect of the station the watcher was assigned to. How exciting this season, then, to see Chang in the very first season of the first episode of the season. We learned a lot about him. He is Miles' father and a brilliant scientist. He has a conscience. He is able to believe some pretty unbelievable things (Daniel, Hurley, and Miles are from the future). We also know how he lost his arm.

I hope we see Chang again this season. The assumption is that he died in the Purge in 1992, so I'm not sure whether he belongs in this post or the next, on dead people. However, if the producers want him back, I'm certain Chang will be there.

I'm now going to organize things a bit. First, I'll start with the parents of the Oceanic 815 survivors and those associated with them.

Eloise Hawking

Until this season, we'd only seen the unnamed Eloise Hawking twice: once in Flashes Before Your Eyes, and in a picture on Catch-22. Both times were associated with Desmond (her picture was on a monk's desk - you know, when Desmond was a monk). This time, we saw her as a young woman, a confident leader, and a controlling and manipulative mother. A strong believer in destiny, she also seems to be an accomplished scientist in her own right. From Flashes Before Your Eyes, she appeared to be able to see the future in the same way Desmond did for a while, but it seems from her conversation with Penny that she no longer does so. You could argue that her knowledge of the future came from Daniel's journal, but that doesn't explain how she knew a man in red shoes would die. But now, she's on her own. Like all the rest of us.

I really hope we see Eloise this season. I'm not sure what if any role she has to play with the Jacob-notLocke battle, but it would seem odd without her.

Charles Widmore

Until this season, Widmore was the ying to Ben's yang. We were given the impression that the battle over the Island was between those two men, and all we had to do was figure out which was more evil. There is no doubt that Widmore is evil. He sent a freighter to the Island with orders to kill everyone on the Island. That's pretty evil. He also controlled his daughter Penny's life, and apparently abandoned his son. We also learned this season that he was the man who placed the fake Oceanic 815 in the ocean.

This season, we also saw Widmore in a more favorable light. Oh, it was clear as a young man that he was an arrogant son of a bitch, and his decision to snap the neck of his colleague was stunning. But he was kind to Ben when the boy work up after his treatment at the Temple. At some point, presumably after Eloise left the Island, Widmore became the leader of the Others, but his decision to spend so much time off-Island, and his fathering of Penny with a woman off-Island, gave Ben his opening to have Widmore deposed and exiled from the Island.

Widmore lost control once again, when his daughter Penny decided to follow her heart and marry Desmond. Widmore has not seen Penny for three years, though it appears that he tried to find her. However, he felt somewhat comforted by her disappearance - if he couldn't find her, Ben couldn't either. When we last saw him, he knew Penny was safe and that Desmond would survive. However, he still knew how to piss people off.

I have to wonder about his plotting with Sun. Is Sun's agreement to return to the Island not just an attempt to find Jin but also to get even with Ben? If so, it would actually make Sun more interesting. Time will tell.

I would be completely surprised if we didn't see Widmore again.

Carmen Reyes

If Hurley is one of the nicest people on the Island, his mother is one of the reasons why. Yes, she pressured Hurley through the years to better himself and lose weight, but she was a good and loving mother to Hurley. She helped Hurley cope when his father abandoned the family, and most importantly, believed in Hurley, even with the seemingly unbelievable.

We've seen Carmen at least once every season. We really need to see her again this season - it would just be wrong not to.

David Reyes

Hurley's decision to forgive his father after abandoning the family is nothing short of proof that Hurley is a saint. David only returned after finding out his son had won the lottery. However, David still did what he could to help his son, giving him a car after Hurley returned from the Island, and helping his son after his escape from Santa Rosa. He even warned Jack to leave his son alone. I guess later is better than never, hunh?

If we see Carmen, David can't be far behind. Unless the explosion of the bomb resets beyond the crash of Oceanic 815, where Hurley didn't win the lottery, but I find that unlikely.

Carole Littleton

The producers did an excellent job of making us believe that Carole was behind the attempt to get Aaron from Kate. Instead, she was in town to get her settlement check from Oceanic 815. Carole was in a coma when her daughter left Australia, so I doubt that she knew Claire was pregnant. How surprised she must have been then to learn that Aaron was Claire's son, not Kate's. I suspect she took little Aaron back to Australia.

If Claire is coming back, I feel safe in assuming we will see her mother at some point, especially now that her mother has custody of Aaron. Of course, the explosion of Jughead might mean the change of everything. However, I still expect to see Carole.

Margo Shephard

I had almost forgotten that Margo even existed. Jack's mother and Christian's widow, she was a rather cold-hearted woman that Christian regretted marrying. I doubt we'll see her again.

Ray Shephard

At least we had seen Margo in the past before. Ray's existence was a complete surprise. Jack's grandfather and Christian's father agreed that Christian shouldn't have married Margo (she's very unpopular, isn't she?). He spent his time trying to escape from his retirement home. For some reason, he also saved Christian's shoes. That seemed odd. I doubt we'll see him again, but who knows? Maybe he'll show up at Christian's funeral if everything is restarted again.

Diane Janssen

Kate's mother was hard to like. She had an affair with Wayne while still with Sam, and let her daughter believe Sam was her father. She left Sam for the alcoholic and abusive Wayne, and didn't seem to care that he was overly close to Kate. When Kate killed Wayne, and told her mother what she had done, Diane decided her daughter needed to be prosecuted. Essentially, she turned her own daughter into a fugitive. She only softened when Kate returned from the Island with her "grandson", but Kate, who had since given up trying to have a relationship with her mother, refused to be blackmailed by her mother. Diane then decided to do the right thing and didn't testify at Kate's murder trial.

If things are reset, to some extent, we might see Diane again. However, she only seemed interested in meeting with Kate because of Aaron, so she might decide to continue her prosecution of her daughter.

The Paiks

It appears that Sun left little Ji-Yeon with her mother and presumably her father. This is despite the fact that Sun managed a hostile takeover of Paik Industries. It is possible that her father is now dead, but we don't know. However, I suspect that we will see the Paiks, one or both, this season.

Enough of the parental drama! Let's move on to drama related to lovers!

Cassidy Phillips

Sawyer's former lover and target somehow stabilized her life, perhaps for the sake of their daughter. For good reason, she didn't have a high opinion of Sawyer, and had no compunctions against telling Kate what she thought. Eventually, she became friends with Kate, and they became a good support system for each other.

I'm sure we'll see Cassidy, too. If time has been reset (which I don't think is likely) then perhaps Sawyer will want to see his daughter. Otherwise, Kate will want to see her friend. We'll see.

Theresa Spencer

Daniel's former lover, lab assistant, and lab rat is currently supported by Widmore as her brain slips around through time. I suppose she is lucky that she is not dead of time sickness like Charlotte, but her life still seems sad. I don't think we'll see her again.

Before I get to the children, let me talk about a sibling:

Rachel Carlson

Juliet's sister has apparently survived cancer twice, and is raising her son, Julian, possibly believing her sister has disappeared from the face of the earth. Ben promised Juliet that Jacob would heal Rachel's cancer himself. I wonder - did they meet? I hope we see Rachel again, but if Juliet has a minor role this season, I doubt we will.

And now, the children:

Aaron Littleton

I suspect I could have a whole post on the importance of Aaron Littleton to the Island, but I will just now summarize by saying we will surely see this child again, one way or another.

Ji-Yeon Kwon

Ji-Yeon is now living with her grandmother, not knowing that her mother has returned to the Island where she was conceived to find the father she never knew. If time is reset, Ji-Yeon will have never been conceived. I hope that doesn't happen, though, as I'd like to see more of her.

Charlie Hume

The son of Desmond and Penny excited a lot of theorizing on various blogs about whether Charlie Hume will somehow grow up to be Charlie Pace. I'm on record as saying that I hope the only relationship between the two is that Hume was named after Pace. If it weren't for the young Charlie, Penny would have probably been killed. See - already he's a hero! I hope we see him again too.

Walt Lloyd

The problem with Walt Lloyd is that the actor who plays him, Malcolm David Kelley, grew up! That alone makes it unlikely that the timeline can be restarted to the very beginning. But somehow Walt has to be involved, because of his unique qualities and relationship to the Island. I'm on record with my disappointment in how he was used in Season Five, and the producers have only one season to make it right. I hope they are listening!

Clementine Phillips (Ford)

Sawyer's daughter has never met her father, and has probably gained a less than favorable impression of him. It is noble that Sawyer asked Kate to look after her, but I think he assessed his weaknesses three years later very well - he would not have made a good father in 2004. My hope is that Sawyer doesn't start at the very beginning this season, and that the growth we saw last season continues. If it does, and he somehow makes it back to the mainland, perhaps he'll met with Clementine. Time will tell.

Daniel Faraday and Charlotte Lewis - Season Five

I've now moved on to the dearly departed. Other than John Locke, Daniel and Charlotte are the only other main characters who died this past season. Unlike John, we don't know Daniel or Charlotte very well, and we're not very sure if we'll see either character this upcoming season. Unlike our other couples, this one never became a "real couple", seemingly never getting further than the crush stage.

I'll start with Charlotte. We learned a few things about Charlotte this season, namely that she lived on the Island as part of the Dharma Initiative from (at least) the ages of 3 to 6, when she left with her mother because of the predicted Incident. We don't know if she was born on the Island, but I think it unlikely since the Initiative tried to have babies born off Island. We also don't know at what age Charlotte arrived on the Island.

Before she left in 1977, Charlotte was approached by "a crazy man" who told her she had to leave the Island and never return, otherwise, she would die. As we know, Charlotte grew up, became an anthropologist, found the skeleton of a polar bear in the Tunisian desert, and did everything she could to return to the Island. Perhaps Daniel's warning made it more enticing for her?

Unfortunately, as someone who spent at least three years and probably more on the Island, Charlotte was the most affect by the time flashes, and John was unable to fix the donkey wheel in time to spare her life. Before she died she told Locke all he needed to know to find the Orchid. She also warned Daniel about his warning. When she died, her body stopped moving along with time. We hardly got to know Charlotte before her untimely death. I don't think those gaps will be filled in this coming season.

Daniel's story was much more complex. No surprise that he has parental issues. He was apparently conceived on the Island, the child of Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore, both leaders of the Others at one time or another. Presumably born off-Island, Daniel was raised by his mother to believe that he had a special destiny, one that required his unwavering devotion from childhood to achieve. He wasn't allowed to follow his passion of piano, instead, focusing his energies on science. A genius, he was the youngest doctor to graduate from Oxford.

To his mother's consternation, Daniel was dating another student. What she didn't know was that Theresa Spencer would become Daniel's lab rat, as he sent her brain through time so much that it eventually never stopped. Theresa eventually became a bedridden invalid, cared for by her sister. Widmore paid the bills.

Daniel left Oxford, and in response to Daniel's experiments on Theresa and himself, Oxford deleted all records of his time there. As far as we know, Daniel, also suffering from the effects of his experiments, became an invalid as well. Perhaps his caretaker was also paid by Widmore? We don't know. But Widmore knew how to find Daniel, and gave him an offer: a trip to a miraculous Island that could cure him. Later, his mother encouraged him, saying that she would be proud of him if he were to go. More on that later.

The Island did indeed seem to cure Daniel. His memory improved, as did his social skills. He took charge when the freighter exploded, guiding the Zodiac raft back to the Island. He tried to find solutions to their problem, and approved of Locke's plan to find the donkey wheel. When confronted with a nuclear weapon on the Island during a time trip, he explained how to contain it. Sadly, he also diagnosed Charlotte with what I can only call time-travel sickness.

In Season Four, it was obvious that Daniel and Charlotte were fond of each other, and we continued to see their platonic love for each other in Season Five. Daniel was clearly protective of Charlotte during the time flashes, and when asked by Richard why Daniel could be trusted, he said truthfully, "I'm in love with the woman sitting next to me." He couldn't do anything to hurt her.

It was at this time that we met a young British hostile, Ellie. Ellie was given the task of escorting Daniel to Jughead. He looked at her at one point, saying, "You look familiar."

I presume that Daniel recognized Ellie as his mother, but given his memory problems and his less than familial relationship with his mother, he might not have. How odd to have met his mother long before he was conceived! In the meantime, many bloggers speculated that Daniel had an affair with Ellie (before we found out she was his mother) and Charlotte was the result. The love Daniel had for Charlotte was more paternal than erotic. However, I never believed it. Daniel was clear - he was "in love" with Charlotte, and he said it with an unusual intensity that convinced me his feelings were love and not just paternal. It turns out I was right.

Daniel was devastated by Charlotte's death. He was found crouched over where her body had been, and had to be coaxed by Juliet to go with them. He walked like a zombie, clearly unaware of what was going on around him. The only thing he noticed was a three-year-old Charlotte walking by him with her mother.

We don't know what happened to Daniel during the three years Sawyer, Miles, Jin, and Juliet lived with the Dharma Initiative. At some point, he took a sub off the Island, and studied at Ann Arbor. He only returned upon finding out that Jack, Kate, and Hurley had returned.

For some reason, Daniel's studies after the last time flash led him to question the principle of the immutability of the past - the "whatever happened, happened" belief. Destiny did not exist, because humans are variables - they can change the outcomes of things. Humans have free will. Jack Kate, and Hurley (and Sayid too) were not supposed to be in 1977. And the Incident was hours away. A small nuclear bomb should be able to negate the energy of the Incident, and no one would have to push a button, so that Desmond would not once fail to press it on time, resulting in the crash of Oceanic 815.

But the episode The Variable contradicted Daniel's new beliefs twice. Daniel has promised himself that he would not approach the young Charlotte about not returning to the Island. But upon his return to the Island from Ann Arbor, he could not prevent himself from telling her what her future would hold. He started her on the path that would result in the one thing he was trying to prevent. Why couldn't he stop himself? Because it had already happened and there was nothing he could do to stop it?

Yet, this holds no emotional cards in comparison to the final scene of the episode. Daniel knew he would have to seek his young mother out to get access to Jughead, a vital part of his plan to negate the Incident. As leader of the Hostiles, Eloise was well guarded, so Daniel felt the need to come armed. He approached Richard Alpert, who wisely knew Daniel would not harm him. But Eloise didn't see that. All she saw was her helper, her guide to the Island, held at gunpoint. She then shot Daniel.

And Daniel looked up at her face, recognized her, and realized what she had done. The older Eloise, the one who had told him she would be proud of him for returning to the Island, knew exactly what she was doing. She knew even then that she would shoot him. In a sense, Eloise committed homicide, not necessarily in 1977, when she thought she was protecting one of her own, but in 2004, when she encouraged him to take Widmore's job offer. Eloise has known since 1977 what destiny is - a confluence of events that must happen, even if it is the last thing she wants to do. She was even pregnant, presumably with Daniel, when she killed him. As heartless as she appears to be, it is obvious she is devastated by this.

Daniel never knew Widmore was his father. He was probably better off for it.

The Actress

Charlotte Lewis was supposed to be an American, and rumors abounded that Kirsten Bell of Veronica Mars was a shoe-in for the role. I think it was probably better for Bell's career that she didn't take the role, as the role would have been a little too close to the character of Veronica Mars. When Rebecca Mader auditioned, the producers were so impressed with her that they made the character British.

I don't know how Mader took Charlotte's death, and thus her own firing, but she certainly didn't like being blamed for a mistake made in the character's age. In Season Four's Confirmed Dead, Ben announced that Charlotte was born in 1979. However, she was about 3 or 4 in 1974, so this information was obviously wrong. In a podcast following LaFleur, the producers were asked about this discrepancy. They alleged that Mader had a "diva" moment and insisted that Charlotte be no older than herself. Fighting words. When Mader found out, she announced on her Facebook page that this was not true and was "NOT COOL". The producers later apologized and acknowledged that the error was totally their own.

Likelihood of Return

I can't predict. I don't know if the hard feelings Mader has been resolved by the producers' apology. I also don't know what role the character would play. Sadly, Charlotte was never given the opportunity to be more than an obsession of Daniel's.

The Actor

Indy-fave Jeremy Davies has turned Daniel Faraday into a cult character. I could find no interesting gossip or news of his recent work.

Likelihood of Return

He's got to. There's no choice. He has to explain to us all what is going on.

Desmond Hume and Penelope Hume - Season Five

We didn't see much of Desmond and Penny this season, though we were rewarded with something rarely seen in the middle of the series with a couple as important as the Humes: we saw them happy, healthy, and functioning as a couple.

After dropping off the Oceanic Six, the Humes essentially dropped off the face of the earth, traveling the seas on Our Mutual Friend. At some point, they married, and we were more or less present at the birth of their son, Charlie. It was hard not to be happy when thinking about Desmond and Penny.

The action started when Desmond woke up from a dream, a dream that he believed to be true. He had been on the Island, pressing the button every 108 minutes, when he heard a long banging on the hatch. He confronted the intruder, who was Daniel Faraday. Faraday realized that for Desmond "the rules" didn't apply, so even though Daniel and Desmond had not met at that time, Daniel knew he could communicate with him. So he asked Desmond to find his mother, but flashed away before he could tell her name.

Penny took it better than most TV wives would. She questioned him, brought up all the logical reasons why his dream was just a dream, but then supported him in his decision. All she asked was a promise that he wouldn't return to the Island. Desmond's reply: "Why in God's name would I ever go back there?" Oh, Desmond, have you ever heard of famous last words?

While trying to find Daniel's mother, Desmond has an opportunity to confront Widmore, Penny's father. What a different confrontation than the last time they met! This time, Desmond had all the power, and Widmore had none. Desmond demanded all the answers, and refused to answer any of Widmore's understandable questions (like, where's my daughter?). Go, Desmond. You're the man.

One of the quickest trips to LA by boat later, Desmond finds Ben, Sun, and Jack at the same church as Faraday's mother. He gets to surprise Ben with a simple question, "Are you looking for Faraday's mother, too?" Guess from Ben's expression he had no clue Eloise Hawking was Faraday's mother.

But Desmond was next to be shocked, when a face from his past turned out to be Faraday's mother. Desmond had never learned her name, but the woman who told Desmond he had to go back to the Island, and that he couldn't propose to Penny, and that he could do nothing to prevent Charlie Pace from dying. Desmond couldn't believe that Jack and Sun were even thinking about returning to the Island. He delivered his message, told Hawking what he thought of her, and left.

But we knew two things - one, the Island isn't done with Desmond and two, Ben wanted revenge for Alex's death. The first thing will presumably occur in the final season, but we saw Ben's attempt at killing Penny. Despite her protests that she had nothing to do with her father anymore, Ben was ready to kill her, until Charlie called her. And Penny was saved - Ben can't kill women with children. Then, despite a gunshot wound from Ben, Desmond managed to beat Ben and throw him into the harbor.

We last saw Desmond and Penny in the hospital after he had emergency surgery to treat his gunshot wound. Responding to Penny's fear, Desmond says, "I promised you, Penny. I promised you - I'd never leave you again." Wow, doesn't Desmond know all the right things to say?

The Actress

Sonya Walger is starring in a new series, FlashForward, on ABC, as Dr. Olivia Benford. Her character's story lines, for the most part, are among the most watchable of the series (my dissatisfaction with FlashForward is well-documented here). The actress also married Davey Holmes, a screenwriter who has written for Pushing Daisies, In Treatment, and Damages, among others. Congratulations Ms. Walger!

The Actor

Henry Ian Cusick, on the other hand, has not had as good a year as his on-screen wife. Chelsea Stone, a former ABC production worker, filed a lawsuit in April alleging that Cusick, the man who once played Jesus, sexually harrassed her by placing his hand on her buttocks, putting his face on her breasts, and kissing her. She further alleges that she notified the appropriate management who, instead of protecting her from Cusick's unwanted behaviors, instead took measures to continue her interaction with him. Stone was shortly thereafter fired. I must say, it was rather hard to watch Desmond after news of the lawsuit hit the press.

In more pleasant news, Cusick also played Charles Darwin on PBS' Nova.

Sun-Hwa Kwon and Jin-Soo Kwon, Season Five

Well, I've covered the Dreaded Quad, the men who changed the most over the season, and lastly, the comedians. Now, I'm going to cover the couples. Sadly, there wasn't enough that happened to them in the past season for them to warrant their own individual entries. Even the couple that died really don't have enough to warrant something separate.

I debated whether I would start with Penny and Desmond or with Sun and Jin, but I decided that the iconic couple of the show should take center stage.

I've been misled by the couples in the past, thinking that Penny and Desmond were the iconic couple (see The Constant), but this past season, with Sun desperate to find Jin and Jin desperate to prevent Sun from returning to the Island, I've rethought it, and I now believe that our Koreans are the iconic couple of the series.

Granted, we never saw the couple together this season - with one important exception, which I'll talk about later. Instead, Jin and Sun spent three years apart, separated by geography and time.

Sun started the season clearly bent on revenge. When she watched the freighter explode she believed that Jin exploded with it. In her heart, she blamed two people for his death: her father and Benjamin Linus. She also wasn't very happy with Kate or Jack, either. We know she had some sort of plan, which involved surveillance photos and private investigation reports, but we're not sure that the plan was more sophisticated than a hostile takeover of her father's company and the murder of Ben Linus.

But wasn't she scary before the Ajira flight? She scared me. Her question of Kate, "How's Jack?" made the hairs on my neck stand up. I wanted to scream when Kate left Aaron with Sun. As Sun talked with Ji Yeon, I was nervous when Sun said she had a new friend for Ji Yeon to play with.

But scary, sinister Sun changed the moment Ben handed her Jin's wedding ring. Taking the ring as proof of life, Sun agreed to follow Ben on the crazy plan to return to the Island. After all, she tells Jack in 316, "If there's even a chance that Jin is alive, I have to be on that plane."

For reasons unknown to us, Sun did not flash to the 1970s like Jack, Hurley, Kate, and Sayid. She remained in 2007 with Ben and Frank. She watched Ben sneaking around, so she followed him. She agreed to follow him to the Island, telling Frank she had to trust him. However, once she had all the information from Ben she needed, she whacked him on the head with an oar. It was the last bit of spirit we saw in Sun, and I must say I'm sure I wasn't alone in cheering. At last, someone beat Ben at his own game!

Sun and Frank traveled to the main Island, where Sun met Christian. Christian showed her a picture of Kate, Jack and Hurley in the Dharma Initiative in 1977. He then told her to wait for John Locke, a man she thought was dead. The moment Ben and John find her in Ben's old house, Sun turns from a woman of strength to a woman who asked questions, mostly about finding her husband. Instead of being manipulated by Ben, she was manipulated by John. We last see her in the shadow of the statute, looking down at John's corpse, asking, as if anyone around her knew the answer, "If this is Locke...who's in there?"

Jin had even less screen time than Sun. He didn't even show up until the very end of the fourth episode, The Little Prince. His biggest moment was the episode This Place is Death, in which Jin meets Danielle Rousseau. It was a little amusing watching the Korean Jin and the French Danielle talk in English in an effort to understand each other. Sadly, Jin's English isn't that great yet. Somehow he understands the French are looking for the radio tower, and he gets across that he knows how to find it. Thus, they follow him into the jungle. He then gets to watch the French meet the Smoke Monster. Nadine is killed, and Montand is dragged into some vent, losing an arm in the process. The French hear Montand's voice and all follow, save Danielle, who would have followed, but Jin, traditionalist that he is, suggested the heavily pregnant woman stay topside. Jin then flashes away.

Jin flashes just a short time later, to find Danielle pointing a gun at Robert. He observes the interaction between the two, and cries in alarm when Danielle shoots Robert dead. Fortunately, Jin flashed again before Danielle's bullets could find him.

When Sawyer finds Jin, he is clearly thrilled to be with his friends, but devastated that Sun is not with them. He understands Charlotte when she tells him to leave Sun where she is, because "This place is death." Knowing that, he extracts a promise from John that he will not approach Sun, and if Sun asks, John will tell her Jin died.

After that, Jin maybe had a line or two per episode. He followed Sawyer into the Dharma Initiative, and joined security. His English greatly improved, and he appeared to be an accepted member of the Initiative.

You might have thought that Jin's finding of Kate, Hurley, and Jack would have increased his visibility on the show a bit, but instead, all we got was Jin demanding Radzinsky find the airplane that allegedly crashed on the Island. Jin's lucky day - he also was the first to find Sayid, probably saving Sayid's life. Jin also found the young Ben after Sayid shot him, bringing him back to the barracks. He stayed with Miles and Hurley when their ruse was revealed, but never took a very active part. He even stayed behind to take care of Sayid while Jack dropped Jughead.

The only time we saw Sun and Jin together was a flashback to their wedding. And a sweet wedding it was. One of their guests, unknown to both of them, was a man we know as Jacob, who touched both of them, giving his blessings. Jin commented on his excellent Korean.

I'm sure that we are all excited about what we are all hoping for - the reunion of Jin and Sun. I suspect that it will put Sawyer and Kate's reunion to shame, though it might not surpass Desmond and Penny's. But I certainly wouldn't want to be the producers if the series ends without Jin and Sun at least being together for a time.

The Actress

The Korean Julia Roberts has apparently been filming a movie called Harmony, scheduled to be released in 2010. I was not able to find much information about the movie or Kim's role in it. Yunjin Kim also was #72 in AskMen.com's Top 99 Most Desirable Woman Countdown of 2009.

The Actor

Daniel Dae Kim broke the Lost DUI curse. He was arrested on October 25, 2007 for a DUI. Unlike previous DUI offenders, however, Kim was not fired, his character was not shot to death, and he continued to have a role on the show. Just a very very small role.

He apparently has a role in a movie called The Adjustment Bureau, which stars Emily Blunt and Matt Damon and is set to be released in 2010.

Miles Straume, Season Five

Although we met Miles Straume in Season Four, the Writer's Strike prevented us from learning as much about him as perhaps we would have liked. All we really learned is that Miles is a selfish jerk and that he can communicate with the dead. What a pleasure then, in Season Five, to really meet Miles and learn about his history.

It turns out that Miles, while not born on the Island, spent his first few months with his parents there. Evacuated from the Island with his mother, he was raised in Encino believing his father abandoned them. (As an aside, I'm not sure that Lara's lifelong anger at Pierre makes sense. All women and children were being evacuated. She was not singled out.) As a child, he discovered that he could hear the fleeting thoughts of the dead. Estranged from his mother, he showed up at her death bed looking a lot like Kid Omega in X-Men: The Last Stand.

Miles actually seemed estranged from the whole human race, even after arriving on the Island. Respectful of no one, respected by none, he only wanted what he could get - money. And he didn't mind being a turn-coat - as long as the price was right.

His hiring by Widmore to travel to the Island changed his life forever. Hired for his unique ability to hear the thoughts of the dead, Miles accepted a high price, and wouldn't turn down the job unless he was paid more. Miles was warned, "All the money in the world isn't gonna fill that empty hole inside you." And indeed, before he left for the Island he returned money to a grieving father whom he'd conned.

On the Island, nothing really changed for Miles until Ben turned the wheel and the Island started skipping through time. Before it was over, one of his colleagues was dead, an 815er disappeared in a well, and Miles accepted the fact that they were tripping through time. He then found himself stuck in the 1970s. He adapted.

Miles' relationship with Sawyer underwent a transformation. Prior to their joining the Dharma Initiative, Miles questioned everything Sawyer suggested. But in 1977, Miles followed Sawyer without question.

I've made much about Miles and Hurley as the greatest comic duo on the show so far. One commentator I've read argues that Miles and Hurley became friends in Whatever Happened, Happened, but I'm not so sure I agree. By Some Like It Hoth, Miles still doesn't respect Hurley and resents the latter's interference in Miles' work. Miles realizes he made a mistake when he reveals that "that douchebag", Pierre Chang, was his father. Hurley, who knows all about father issues, tries to help Miles sort through them, and before the hour was up, Miles was observing his own father read a book to his baby self, and perhaps realizing his father wasn't all he had thought.

Daniel's return to the Island brought complications to everyone, especially when Dan revealed to Pierre Chang that Miles was his son. Miles of course, immediately denied it. However, after the gig was up, and Miles teamed with Hurley and Jin to escape the Dharma Initiative, Miles could not deny his paternity when pressed (it didn't help that Hurley was incapable to answering even the most basic of history questions). Miles encourages his father to pay attention to Daniel and evacuate everyone from the Island who doesn't need to be there. Miles then watches as his father argues with his wife, basically running her off the Island.

Finally, in The Incident, we see Miles do something completely selfless, completely focused on someone other than him. His father injured, Miles yells out "Dad" and risks his own life to rescue him.

We have no idea what will be left behind after Juliet made Jughead explode, but hopefully some of Miles' changes will stick around.

The Actor

Ken Leung apparently worked on a film that has not been released yet called "Works of Art." I think you can see a trailer for it on YouTube. Otherwise, he is expected to be seen in Season 6 of Lost.

Michael Emerson Doesn't Win the Golden Globes

Lost is usually ignored by the Golden Globes, so that Michael Emerson actually got nominated is pretty impressive. No surprise, though, that he lost to John Lithgow for his performance in Dexter. From what I've heard (I don't have Showtime), Lithgow's performance was extraordinary. But too bad for Emerson!

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Season Five

Of all the characters on Lost, Hurley is the one who most represents the audience. And not just any old audience, but an obsessed fan of genre media, such as Star Wars or Lost. It is Hurley who asks the questions that we're asking. And it's Hurley who is the soul of the show. If Hurley thinks that a particular action is wrong, he's usually right.

The season started with Hurley's rescue from the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute by Sayid. Unfortunately for both of them, Sayid's safe house was compromised, and Sayid shot with several tranquilizing darts. Sayid lived, but because he was unconscious, Hurley was essentially on his own. With some (misleading - at least to me!) advice from Ana Lucia, Hurley was able to pull his act together, ending up at his parents' home.

In the same episode, The Lie, we learned that Hurley was against lying about the Island. So angry was he that he threatened to never help Sayid again - a promise he did not fulfill. But it was clear that the lie weighed on Hurley, and that he honestly believed those left behind on the Island were harmed by their actions. Finally, he told his mother:

Okay. See, we did crash, but it was on this crazy island. And we waited for rescue, and there wasn't any rescue. And there was a smoke monster, and then there were other people on the island. We called them the Others, and they started attacking us. And we found some hatches, and there was a button you had to push every 108 minutes or... well, I was never really clear on that. But... the Others didn't have anything to do with the hatches. That was the DHARMA Initiative. The Others killed them, and now they're trying to kill us. And then we teamed up with the Others because some worse people were coming on a freighter. Desmond's girlfriend's father sent them to kill us. So we stole their helicopter and we flew it to their freighter, but it blew up. And we couldn't go back to the island because it disappeared, so then we crashed into the ocean, and we floated there for a while until a boat came and picked us up. And by then, there were six of us. That part was true. But the re... But the rest of the people... who were on the plane? They're still on that island.

Have you ever tried to explain why you love Lost to people who've never watched? I would argue that you would sound a lot like Hurley did trying to tell his mother what the show was about. You might find that there was a lot that happened that you could argue you were "never really clear on".

The end of the episode ended with Hurley rejecting Ben's offer to return to the Island and surrendering to the police. We didn't see him for a while. Unbeknownst to him, Ben had his attorney working to get Hurley released. Despite his numerous misgivings, Hurley was released from jail, all charges dropped. And it was then that I think one of the most momentous events in Hurley's life and possibly in the show itself occurred. Hurley met Jacob.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the fact that Jacob had a far longer conversation with Hurley than he did with any other Oceanic 815 survivor. Perhaps I'm reading too much into the fact that Jacob gave Hurley more than Sayid, Jack, Kate, and Sun were given - a choice to return to the Island. Sayid, as you recall, was in handcuffs, while Jack, Kate, and Sun all returned due to the manipulations of Ben. Hurley was given a choice.

Hurley was also given something else almost as important to Hurley. Hurley had viewed his visitations by the ghosts (for lack of a better term) as a curse, part of the same curse that had struck him after using the numbers to win the lottery. In his mind, it was the curse that caused Oceanic 815 to crash and his friends to die. But Jacob thought otherwise:

JACOB: Well, what if you weren't cursed? What if you were blessed?

HURLEY: How do you mean "blessed?"

JACOB: Well, you get to talk to people you've lost... seems like a pretty wonderful thing to me.

HURLEY: Oh, I'm sure it's wonderful, except for the part where I'm crazy.

JACOB: I've got some news for you, Hugo, and you're just gonna have to take my word on this. You are not crazy.

Clearly, Hurley listened, because back on the Island, he willingly shared with Miles that he spoke to dead people too, even going so far as to brag,"You're just jealous my powers are better than yours."

One of the best pairings of the season was Hurley and Miles. The hostile, angry Miles matched wits with someone whose intelligence he severely underestimated. Hurley worked hard to figure out how the "whatever happened, happened" theory applied to them, since they were in the past, a past that had already happened, but not to him. It was hard to wrap the mind around the fact that what Sayid, Hurley, Jack, Kate, Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, and Miles did already happened, but not to them. Because for them, the past (the 1970s) was their present. And Hurley finally stumped Miles: If Sayid shot the young Ben in the 1970s, why didn't Ben recognize Sayid nearly 30 years later? Sadly, we know the answer, which I found to be quite dissatisfying. But that is another topic.

Is Hurley The Little Prince?

When I wrote a study of who might be the Litte Prince, I declared that Hurley's chances of being so low to medium. This essay was written in the middle of the season, before Hurley's conversation with Jacob. I didn't even think of it, until I read a post on Ryan McGee's Lost blog on Zap2It on Jacob's heir unapparent. He argues that perhaps Hurley, in all his goodness of soul, generosity of spirit, and devotion to honesty, is the true heir to Jacob. It quite got me thinking.

The Actor

As you may know, I'm pretty sure that Jorge Garcia left a comment on my blog, correcting an error of mine - an error I found again today on another site. Garcia did indeed read the lines for Sawyer in auditioning for Lost, but he denied auditioning for the role of Sawyer. Now I know.

The actor has his own blog, which is an amusing slice of life about his life on Hawaii and as a celebrity. The actor also appeared at Comic Con this year, and did an excellent job of being Hurley, asking the questions we all want to ask. I'll quote from a blogger who was there:

[Garcia] asked Darlton if the commercials indicate that Jack's actions in the S5 finale worked and flight 815 didn't crash. Darlton's response? "Trust us." Jorge's comeback? "The last time you told me to trust you guys, you said that Nikki and Paolo were going to be awesome."

He makes an excellent point.